Sponge mopping element for front presser mop



March 21, 1961 N. B. GREENLEAF SPONGE MOPPING ELEMENT FOR FRONT PRESSERMOP Filed Feb. 10. 1958 k rma.

K d v INVENT DR NATHANIEL B. GZNLEAF Nathaniel B. Greenleaf, Toronto,Ontario, Canada, assignor to Sponge Products Corporation, Chicago, Ill.

Filed Feb. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 714,255

3 Claims. (Cl. 15-244) This invention relates to improvements in spongemops of the type having a presser plate hinged to the front edgethereof, and more particularly to sponge elements or refills for suchmops.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a sponge which willbe shaped for both optimum cleaning and wringing action in a frontpresser mop.

Another object is to provide such a sponge shape which will haveincreased sponge volume over conventional bevelled sponges for increasedliquid absorption in the mopping of floors and the like.

Still another object is to provide a sponge as aforesaid which can beeconomically manufactured without waste and which will exhibit maximumwear resistance.

According to the invention the sponge of the refill is in' the form ofan elongated sponge block having, in cross section, substantially theform of a parallelogram with the front face making an acute angle withthe bottom working face and an obtuse angle with the top backingreceiving face.

More particularly according to the invention the acute angle definedbetween the front face and the bottom face is an angle of approximately70.

Another important feature resides in cutting the sponge so that theparallel top and bottom faces are substantially perpendicular to thegrain of the sponge.

Still another feature resides in providing a sponge dimension so thatthe sponge thickness is approximately one half the fore and aftdimension of the sponge which relationship in conjunction with theangled shape augments the wringing action.

In the completed sponge refill the backing receiving face of the spongeblock has applied thereto a backing comprising a rigid platesubstantially coextensive with the backing receiving face and carryingattaching means for attaching the sponge to a backing plate, thearrangement being such that on attachment to a mop head the sponge isadapted to be disposed so that the bottom front longitudinal edgeprojects forwardly of the front edge of the backing plate and mop headand the bottom rear longitudinal edges projects forwardly of thelongitudinal rear edge of the backing plate whereby a single hingeconnected front presser plate is adapted to gather in and fully andcompletely compress the sponge against the backing plate and/or mophead.

These and other objects and features will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is an end elevational view partly broken away of a block ofsponge showing the manner in which it is cut to provide the desiredultimate shape in the sponge refill;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a sponge mopping element or refillconstructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 3 is a side elevational View showing the relationship of thesponge on a front presser mop, the presser United States I atent D 2being shown in full in its non-wringing position and being shown indotted lines at an intermediate position to gather in and wring thesponge;

Figure 4 is a view illustrating the manner in which the sponge of therefill is gathered in as wringing is carried out by the presser plate asseen from the end of the refill;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing the gathering in ofthe sponge as the wringing is continued towards the final wringingposition.

According to the invention the sponge material which may be rubber,cellulose or other synthetic material such as polyurethane is cut toform elongated blocks which in end elevation or cross section are in theform of a parallelogram having a bottom face 2, an. upper backingreceiving face 3, a front face 4 and a rear face 5. According to theinvention the bottom face 2 and backing receiving face 3 aresubstantially parallel as are the front and rear faces 4 and 5, and thefront and rear faces are sloped with respect to the faces 2 and 3, sothat the front face 4 defines with the bottom face 2 an angle a which isan acute angle, preferably of the order of 70, while the rear face 5forms with the bottom face 2 an obtuse angle b of the order ofPreferably the vertical height of the sponge between the faces '2 and 3is approximately one half the dimension of the sponge between the frontand rear faces 4 and 5, respectively.

A suitable backing, generally designated at 6, is applied to the backingface 3 and this may comprise a. plate 7 having downturned edges 8 andraised ribs 9 for stiffening, the plate being secured to the sponge by alayer of adhesive 10. The plate is provided with suitable screw threadedattaching means 11 in the form of screws or threadedposts and thecomposite unit formed by the sponge block 1. and backing 6, hereinaftertermed a sponge mopping element or sponge refill is adapted to besecured to a head plate 12 of a mop 13 by means, for instance, of wingnuts 14 which engage the screws 11 which are arranged to project throughsuitable registering openings in the head plate 12.

As illustrated, the mop 13 carries a presser plate 15 hinged at 16 tothe front edge of the mop head and this presser plate is adapted tofollow the path illustrated in Figures 3 to 5 in the compressing of thesponge to effect its wringing. It will be noted that with the shape ofthe sponge specified the longitudinally extending front corner 17, atwhich the angle a is defined, projects forwardly of the front edge ofthe mop head 12 while the rear longitudinal corner 18 at which theangle 1) is defined projects at least to beneath and preferablyforwardly of the rear edge 19 of the backing plate 7 which forms a rigidrearward extension of the mop head 12.

The merits of the particular sponge shape will be understood from thediscussion of Figures 4 and 5 when the sponge is used in conjunctionwith a front presser mop.

As illustrated, when the presser plate 15 is swung in the wringingaction, the forwardly projecting portion of the sponge defining theangle a is first, displaced rearwardly and downwardly to provide a pointof sponge compression as indicated at 20 in Figure 4 which is the effectof the compression of this forward mass of sponge as it folds up towardsthe rigid sponge backing plate 7 and rigid reinforcing mop head 12. Thisaction of compression of the sponge at the point 20 acts to draw in therear corner of the sponge so that the rear edge 18 is moved forwardly.This forward movement augments the natural position of the sponge byvirtue of its sloped rear face 5 to locate the corner 18 at this pointin the wringing well forward of the rear edge 19 of the backing so thatas the presser plate is swung further to the position of Figure 5,thebulk of the sponge at the rear is compressed between the rigid backingplate 7 and the rigid presser plate 15. Thus, in moving from theposition of Figure 4 to the position of Figure 5, the rear edge '18 ofthe sponge is adequately wrung.

As shown in Figure 5 this action gathers in the rear portion of thesponge into a highly compacted mass which is essentially folded onitself as indicated at 21.

Thus, by virtue of its shape, augmented by its proportion, the spongedisclosed enables through the use of a single hinge connected presserplate 15, a thorough wringing of the sponge with high compressionthroughout as the presser plate moves from its non-wringing position ofFigure 3 to the position of Figure 5.

As illustrated, the presser plate is provided with a suitable handle 22having an opening 23 for engagement with a locating spring 24.

As shown in the drawings the sponge has, in effect, a grain, with thisgrain being arranged so that it runs substantially perpendicular to thebottom face 2 as indicated by the vertical grain lines 25. With thisarrangement the exposed working surface formed by the bottom face 3affords maximum resistance to the scrubbing action to which the spongeis subjected in mopping.

It will be understood that the backing construction may vary as desiredand may be secured in different manners as desired and the details ofthe mop construction may be changed as desired as the mop is forillustrative purposes of the functioning of the sponge only.

Other modifications in the actual size and slight changes in theproportion and details may be made within the spirit of the invention asthe disclosure herein is given of the preferred embodiment of theinvention for purposes of illustrating the invention.

What I claim is:

1. -A sponge mopping element comprising an elongated sponge block havingin cross section the configuration of a parallelogram presenting abottom working face, a parallel backing receiving face, and parallelforwardly sloping front and rear faces, said sponge block having a grainstructure oriented so that the sponge grain extends perpendicular tosaid parallel bottom working and backing receiving faces, said slopingfront face defining with said bottom working face an acutely angledcorner, and said sloping rear face defining with said bottom workingface an obtusely angled corner, and a backing comprising a rigid plateof smaller area than said backing receiving face and presentinglongitudinal front and rear edges, said plate being securedsubstantially centrally of said backing receiving face, the arrangementbeing such that the rear longitudinal plate edge is disposed forwardlyof the rear edge of said backing receiving face to lie in substantialalignment with the line of sponge grain running perpendicular to thesaid parallel backing receiving and working sponge faces andintersecting said obtusely angled corner defined by said rear and bottomworking faces, the longitudinal front edge of said plate lyingrearwardly of the front edge of said backing receiving face a distancesubstantially equal to the distance that the longitudinal rear edge ofsaid plate is forward of the rear edge of said backing receiving face.

2. A sponge element as claimed in claim 1 in which said acutely angledcorner defined by said front and bottom working faces comprises a cornerhaving an angle of substantially 3. A sponge element as claimed in claim1 in which a flexible backing is provided to overlie substantially theentire sponge element backing receiving face to reinforce the backingreceiving sponge face areas beyond said rigid plate in a planeperpendicular to said grain orientation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,165,319 Vaughn Jul 11, 1939 2,298,320 Vaughn Oct. 13, .1942 2,540,768Vaughn Feb. 6, 1951 2,731,658 Miller Jan. 24, 1956 2,774,091 GreenleafDec. 18, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 68,140 France Oct. 28, 1957 (Addition toNo. 1,097,173) 485,587 Canada Aug. 12, 1952 1,134,090 France Nov. 26,1956

